This 1981-82 home demo sheds more light into the Bruce’s fascination with Robert Ford and Jesse James and the origins of “Highway Patrolman.”
Category: Roll of the Dice
From the one-that-got-away files: take a listen to “Riding Horse,” Bruce’s ode to, um, dating tall women.
In defense of “Working on a Dream,” the perfect title track for one of Bruce’s best and most underrated albums.
One of Bruce’s most devastatingly powerful songs is one of the least-known and -heard from his official catalog. Listen to the dark, multi-layered “Hey Blue Eyes” inside.
Bruce grappled with his religion through as far back as his teen years, but with a lot less subtlety. Listen to him challenge the church in his 1969 Steel Mill crowd-pleaser.
One time only: Bruce pays homage to (and pokes fun at) outgoing Yankees manager Joe Torre at a 2007 benefit for his Safe at Home foundation.
Dum dum dee-dum dum dee-dee dum dum!
It’s sonically rough and lyrically trite, but a 20-year-old Springsteen turns in a ferocious guitar performance in his early composition, “Good Lovin’ Woman.”
“Used Cars” is one of Bruce’s most honestly autobiographical songs. Beneath its vignette veneer lies powerful, nuanced themes of shame and alienation. Let’s explore and listen to rare performances inside.
Often dismissed as a work-in-progress “Zero and Blind Terry,” “Phantoms” is actually a completely different song (with the same music). It represents the closing of a chapter in Bruce’s songwriting.